Overview

Quick-change tips

Maximum heating power

Heating rate (high quality soldering irons can heat-up to the set temperature within about 2 seconds!)

Stable temperature control under different loads
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For all but the lightest of work you will want to choose a soldering station instead of a soldering iron. The station provides a holder for the iron, keeping it in a safe place while you do other work (so you don’t burn yourself!). It also allows to a lighter and higher power iron, as most of the electronics can now be located in the freestanding control unit rather than in the handheld iron.

Brands

Hakko

An American company with a vivid and memorable blue/yellow brand color.

JBC

The creme-de-la-creme of soldering iron brands. JBC makes some of the highest-quality soldering stations, but as expected, this comes at a very high price.

Weller

The Weller brand is associated with quality, second only to JBC. Naturally, their products are generally cheaper than JBCs to compensate.

Hobbyist Range

Hakko FX888D

No quick change tips

Weller WE1010

No quick change tips

Professional Range

Hakko FM203-15

Dual ports. For use with the FM-2027 soldering iron which takes the Hakko T12 range of tips. Note that the T12 range are quick-change, and you start paying more than double for quick-changes tips (versus the T18 range).

Weller WT 1010

Single port. 95W. 550°C max temp. For use with the WTP90 soldering iron, which takes the XT tips.